LAURIER AND THE LARGER CANADA SUPPLEMENT TO THE DAILY BRITISH WHIG = KINGSTON, ONTARIO, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16th, 1908 THE NEW CANADIAN ERA BEGINS WITH LAURIER The Twelve Years During Which He Has Held the Pre- | miership Mark an Epoch in Our History--His Work Will Always Live. Sir Wilfrid Laurier may be fairly described as the first statesman of the new Canadian era. had been done before Confederation. a young man, just beginning his practice at the bar, and it was four | years after Confederation when he belgan his public career as a mem- | ber of the Quebec Legislature. Three years later he made his first eppearance in the House of Commons. For many years he was known as a graceful orator, little interested in the ordinary political strife, but always commanding attention by the dignity and grave courtesy of his bearing, and the distinction of his style: From the time that he was elected leader of the Opposition in 1887 he steadily grew in public esteem. It was gradually realized that he possessed not only eloquence of speech and urbanity of man- rer, but strength, in an uncommon degree, simplicity, directness, and He could rise to an occasion, This characteristic was gen- the power to make decisions quickly. and the greater the occasion the better. Much of the lifework of his predecessors | At Confederation Laurier was | erally remarked in the various meetings that have been held in Eng- land for the discussion of Imperial affairs. His tact, judgment, and | firmness gave him a high position among the leading representatives | of the Empire. liberation upon affairs of | national importance, upon Imperial questions and international ques. | He is at his very best in de tions. | The twelve years during which he has held the premiership have | marked an epoch in Canadian history. Not since Confederation has there been such a vital change in the position of Canada, and in the | For many years Canada has been a land of pro- | of fulfillment. Doubt, misgiving, dis- the hopes of the founders of Confedera- | Canadian outlook. mise. It has become a land appointment have vanished; tion, long deferred, have been realized, Canada has become, in fact if not in name, a nation, with national aspirations, ready to do a nation's work in the world. The golden West, long unpeopled, is being rapidly turned into a country of homes. ! Religious and racial strife have vanished, and all the diverse elements of our population are working together to build up here a free and strong commonwealth | With this splendid era the name of Sir Wilfrid Laurier will Slways be associated OUR PRIME MINISTER LEADS SIMPLE LIFE [ stronger man at sixty-six than he was And Is Stronger Now Than He at sixty, f tt »rtions Was Six Years Ago--An ls SXer ons { the next five weeks will involve, Early Riser. Whether as Prime Minister. | the try editor and lawyer, stu thr ut 1! career followeq it is wonderty, y those who have kn wn (from boyhood to see how litt habits of living have changed | mornings when everyone else a particularly of C usual | and in every way equal to |= which his campaign 9" or as he has the in- him | A his ny the | 8 - late sitip Sir Four years ago when the last Bir deed was held sick this there, encourag- ready at opponents face that have vitality 1e tortures is a general election carapalgn was a face of was here, fight, and the Prime Minister man Yet, In the physical handicap, he in the ing jn after of the House frid up Aas Wil shav himself, and everywhere is ing his following all times to t his to face, But in the intervened his ren given him victory indigestion, own stantial breakfast «n time to business as early as His prive ate secretary is wer-night mail, and a half, is enough ose of the coresspon- . to get down ve arkable ver ti Wilfrid ATS has |as a rule to disg Sir much | dence. | | as a { or assured of realization. | "I AM TRUE sitting | s and 1s finished with his simple but sub- the earlie st clerk, | n hand at that ! and an | Laurie | destiny SIR WILPHID 'LAURIER, CANADA'S GREATEST STATESMAN. LOVES SCOTTISH SONGS. | Sir Wilfrid has always had a | warm corner in his heart for the Scotch, and he always enjoys a meeting among. them, Deeply | bedded in his sensitive nature | are the roots of a love for Scot- | tish loyalty and Scottish toler- { ance, which came to him from | his residence as a boy with a TO ENGLAND" | 8ir Wilfrid Lewin While in Op-| position, Described Himself Scottish family named Fraser, as an English Liberal | in the Province of Quebec. At is } a French-Canadian concert, not long ago, a friend made the re- park that no songs equalled the French. "But that is not 80," repled Sir Wilfrid. "There are no songs that touch my heart Ilke the Scotch." The spell of those sweet simple lays of "Scotland, to -which he had listened so often in the days of his youth, had never been brok- en 'mid all the changing scenes of his aftef life, and this Is characteristic of the man--his directness, his broad-minded- ness, and his steadfastness of \ purpose. TRUE TO CAUSE OF LIBERTY AND JUSTICE - Said He Belonged to the School of Hampden, Pym, Burke. |G. W. ROSS' APT [DESCRIPTION and | Referred to the Dominion Premier TWO ELECTION STORIES "Picture Gallery All THAT HIT RIGHT HOME by Himself." Mr, Fielding Tells a Pair of . "Tunnel" Anecdotes with Polnts to Them, At the Massey Hall meeting Mr Fielding told two stories that hit poli. | tical nallg, on the heads. One of them he told 'off the bat" mark from someone in audience Railway, | One {llustrated his remark that "if we settlement the | NaVe given you a $100,000,000 budget we anada. But, per-! not be through th Hon, In the Liberal hust press n the speakers n that Sir Wilfrid allowed to finish his | to the construction ot | ental through nad ings is the present 'campaig peal by r should be work the the which great hinter] haps, after all this great concept of the will go down will be through his referring Tre o open new nscontir t + is to 1 1 of C AN( * In this particular tunnel was a as trains have a habit of being try | train, future | | and in the trdin was a young couple, as at his name | young couples have a habit of being £0 much as it} As the train emerged and the girl was a conclll- | adjusting veil, "George," she re. greatest nee | marked, "do you know that this tun- a cost. millions of dol " "Hum" he said, smacking his lips, 'I don't care it may Don nm th in history, work as her ator in a land where the ut British by | the past apd | re. ON nationalities wera Our heart is in the fu ure, wv our beloved Canada."- "The diffe fs forgotten concord f a darn if it did; it was worth It all » and more too." English-speaking | Speaking of tunnels, Mr. Fielding was before his pub- |reminded that Mr. Foster, who Is so to Sir Wilfrid | opposed to election promises of public! Laurier a; Prime Minister has Deen | works, has been offering Prince Eq. given the privilege of | lasting reccnciliation of the E 'nglish | tives are returned to ROWER, |and French races in Canada. "He is safe in Song Sy 4 omeone, amid r An English Libera, § "Yes," agreed Mr. Flame, "That In one of the notable speeches of his | remmds me "and he proceeded at s he once with a tale of the man who went! in the oh to a grocery story to buy flour. "It's i tt ks terms: $5.0 * sald the grocer. "But I went to my 'race, n true to! Jo 1 true to England, and 1 was, and asked h what his price and he said $5.50." "Then 'e all, true fo the cause of lib- | don't you buy frem Jones? 1d justice. Sir, T am or French | confessed the customer, and I have the pride of my is out of flour i t straight home. but in politics I am an Xengren | The story g The principles which I pro- | A Clean Campaign, such as they are. are the out- | growth of study and reflection. They | In the Laurier campaign no effort is | did not come to me from the land of | being made to stampede the vote, tha | ~~ -- | agdre sséy sre logical: blatancy and | | scandalmongering are eschewed en his boast allke 'nch and and lic caree? has closed, in | Canada, happily, ofession of "Well," (Continued on Page Two.) | in reply to a re- | | have also given you a $100,000,000 coun- | witnegsing the | ward Island a tunnel if the Conserva. | Shouted i why | "you see Jones | CANADA NOW LARD OF FULFILLMENT | | | | { Has Always Been a Land of Pro- mise, But- Now Is Some- wing More. |THE GOVERNMENT'S SHARE if Industry Languished It Would be Blamed, So Now Credit Should be Given. Canada has for many years been a land of promise. In the last twelve years it has become 'a land of fulfill- ment. There may be honest difference of opinion as to the extent to which | this result is due to the acts of the | present Administration. If the country were in the midst of deep depression, if the industries were languishing, If its farmers were to find a | market for their produce, if the West | had failed to attract a stream of im- migrant, does in his sénses believe that these calamities would not be ascribed to the Liberal Government? Every cther accusation against the Government would be subordinated to the grand indictment that it 'had ruined the industries of the country, turned a garden into a desert, discouraged the people and sent them abroad foreign lands to carn their bread, fackenzie Government was defeated by the use of such argument ang by | none other. Its nonesty Is now fully admitted by Conservatives, and Mac- kenzie has been cannoized. There would be neither fair play nor com. mon sense for hard times, for such abundant unable any man | joyed durirg the last twelve vears. | There was a short season of prosperity (after the introduction of the National | Policy, and Conservatives never failed {to take the credit to themselves, of them went so far as to say that the N. P. caused the neas to lay larger | ess \ SIR WILFRID VIGOROUS Going through Campaign With Abune | darce of Health. Sir Wiifrid himseif 1s going through | this campaign-with an abundance of physical as well as {lamp of thought seems burning con- tinually cut race of a man whose private and | public iife is unbesmirched. Not an apology has he to make. With the con- | fide nce of a statesman who has done his best, and that nobly, he faces his | | people urafraid and undismayed. in blaming a Gov ernment | and giving it no cre dit | prosperity ang | | amazing progress cs Canada has en- | One | of mental vigor, | Back® of those steady eyes of his the | His 1s the convincing, clean- | = THE PERSONAL MAGNETISM OF SIR WILFRID THE MAN The Ties Which Bind Him to the People and Give Him His Hold on Them. A CAMPAIGN INCIDENT. Even the bitterest of trials have their humorous side, A supporter once telegraphed to Sir Wiifrld from a remote cerstitvency: "Report in circu lation heve that your antagon- ism to religion Is so stro you have never had any children baptized. Very ing to party. 'elegraph me if uptrue" Sir Wiltrid's reply was charcteristic: "Statement is-un- fcrtunately quite true. I never had a child to baptize" ant ---- Nothing of the Hypocrite About the Chieftain--The Premier in Action. The secrets of Sir Wilfrid's hold upon the public are marifold. Some of them have to 4¢ with the man in the silk topper, the imposing figure of a wcrld-statesman who is also a Cana- dian. But there is another tle which binds his people to him. It is the set- ted conviction that the man .in the old soft hat, the Fir Wilfrid of the lel- rure hovr, is'exactly the same Sir Wil frid as the man who steps upon the platform with his data carefully en- sconced in the silk topper upturned on the table dtside him. It is all summed Lp in the spontaneous expression of tne loyal patriot who watched him at one of Lis recent meetings. "Say, boys." he sollloquized. "I think that man's straight." and he meant straight in something more than pub- lie life. He meant that the Chieftain is sincere; no hypocrite. If he had seen the Premier lounging in his car in the beloved comfort of an old felt hat, he would possibly have remarked that the felt hat life of the man and the. siik say that the eloquent French-Cana- dian is a man of many gestures. He But there ate as or thies whi which n an n. and of these, e, his favorite and ls best, Sir Wilfrid of the outstretched parma, palms to the people, baring his b as it were, as one who d sa leave you to judge of it all'--this 1s the Chieftain convincing. the th with a record wait he is not ashamed to own. Other aids to eloguence he has which are strong and free. The clinched hands held almost at a level with the race defy the criticism of the foe. The open left, with the right fist pounded into it; this Is the clincher of the finished argument Many, it must be remembered, at the recent open-air meetings held In On- terio where vaster concourses came together than could be reached by a human volce, knew nothing of the leader's discourse save' what they {gathered from this handplay, with a 'wurd occasionally wafted on the fickle breess a they laughed with Sir hat life of the leader are pretty much | rid's hands; became earnest with in accord, and thatneicher has been |Sir Wilfrid's hands; mocked his foes besmirched. |by Sir wird . hog of all, His Favorite Gesture. were sony Noe yoo 2 open armed surrender of himself and his Offhand, an cbserver would probahly FIFTY THOUSAND HEARD HIM, TRIUMPHANT ONTARIO TOUR ---- Nothing of the Glad-Hand Artist About Sir Wilfrid--His Is Quiet Digiyy. vote-juggler, nor a hurrah artist. There have been statesmen who have bluffed voters into camp by an affected bon- homie, by getting "down with the boys," by a shrieking assumption of patriotism and waving of the flag. Of this type Sir Wilfrid Laurier is not. He does not lose polse even when he gains enthusiasm. His 1s the quiet dignity of conscious power. His hand- shake thrills, but it thrills because It Is sincere. Hundreds have shaken bands with him, and {if one thing has been noticeable more than another it has been that they have been of the type of thinking men, ri ther than of the "gushers" who rush forward to clasp hands and yell "Hur- roo, BUL" As for the demonstrations accorded the Premier, there can be no discount~ ing the real regard with which they throbbed. Non-partisan addresses hail ed the First Minister as a man of ideal private and of zealous public life, The Canadians and Americans at Niagara, the Scotch at Strathroy, the French at Tilbury, the Germans at Berlin, men and women of these and other nations at Clinton, North Bay, and Jackson's Point--all have united in a tribute of unsurpassed solidity to the man who has made Canadians prouder of Cane ada than ever Canadians have been be- fore, Accepting the very lowest estimates of attendance, it is conceded that over 50,000 people went to hear Sir Wilfrid in the triumphant course of his seven meetings In Western Ontario. Many of * them walked miles, others drove more miles, othérs went by train still more miles, Many saw him, not one-half heard him. but the magnetism of the man held them all More than this, of course, there was the realization that the figure before them was a world-figure, that no ut- terance of this man could be more im- portant than his achievements. They saw In Sir WHfrid the man who had done things. That, after all, was their best guarantee that he would do things still, The Laurier gatherings were not solidly Liberal; neither will the Laur- fer vote be. Sir Wilfrid 1s neither a glad-hand "OH, YE OF LITTLE FAITH." "We want to provide another rallway to Hudson's Bay. There will then be the present route and the Hudson's Bay route, and the man who raises { wheat and cartle will aave two outlets for his production. We have been told, { 'Are you not going to hurt the trade of the St. Lawrence if you do that?" 'On. ye of little faith,' the trade of Canada 1s too great even for these two outlets." | --From speech of Sir Wilfrid Laurfer. cons Vote on October 26th For Sir, Wilfrid Laurier, Unity, and Progress